The Hunger Games is a young adult science fiction novel. It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Scholastic originally published on Sept. 14, 2008.

The story introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the United States once existed. In Panem, a government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power.

In the books, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive.

Collins said the idea for the book came when flipping through TV channels. She came across a reality show competition and another show where footage of the Iraq War flashed on the screen. She blended the two scenes together along with the Greek myth of Theseus.